Weaver's Web
by CadenceIX
Summary: In a ruined world Peter managed to kill Doctor Doom, unleashing his stolen cosmic power. As a reward, Peter is not only granted more power, but sent back in time to make things right. Starting before the Avengers assembled he takes on new identities and weaves a web of his own making in a world he hopes to make better than the one he left behind.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:**

This story is not part of the If This Be My Home universe. The Peter here also isn't one of the many in Away From Home. He would be too powerful, even more so than the OP Peter in that story. The whole point of this is fun.

I'm leaving the rating as teen for now, but might bump it if I end up throwing in sex scenes.

The intent is to go for Peter with multiples girls. Right now I'm planning for Daisy Johnson / Quake, Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, a Female Vision and Sharon Carter / Agent 13. I might throw in things or flings with a few others, but those would be the main ones, but I also didn't plan for Sharon until I started writing her so I have no idea where it'll end up at the moment.

If you enjoy anything, please let me know. Positive comments and reviews help writers stay motivated and prevent silence seeming like indifference.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Peter Parker was at the end. Doctor Banner gave up his right arm, Natasha Romanoff sacrificed her soul, and Tony Stark gave up his life to stop Thanos, but none of it seemed to matter. Thanos wasn't the end. He was the beginning.

Even Mysterio and Vulture weren't anything compared to what came after for Peter alone. The Osborns had made his life hell and ruined his relationship with Michelle before both of them died. Peter failed to help a professor he respected from becoming a literal monster, and was betrayed by a man he respected as much as Tony Stark who became a figurative one.

Yet those all paled in comparison to the destruction that came with Magneto, Galactus, Annihulus, and of course it all ended with Doom. Doom was the end. Doom had won.

No one was really sure how it happened, but Doom stole the Beyonder's power. The how, and any hope of reversing it, died with Reed Richards as Doom twisted Sue's mind, making her smile and stand at his side as she watched Reed be pulled apart until he finally tore. All they knew was somehow Doom had gained a cosmic power that made him into the closest thing to a god. A true god, not like Thor or Galactus, but one who could do almost anything.

While the Avengers tried to figure out a way to beat him, it was Hawkeye who started everything. Or rather, Hawkeye II. Lila Barton tried to assassinate Doom on her own, but he turned her arrow and sent it back through her eye before teleporting her corpse to the dinner table where Clint and Laura Barton were eating.

Two weeks later, an arrow pierced Sue Storm's eye, and the little hope the Avengers had died when Clint was lifted off the ground and spat on Doom's mask, smiling as his body was torn apart atom by atom.

The war of the end officially began the day Doom killed four Avengers with a single simple action.

Doom appeared at the Avengers HQ and strode through the front doors with his arms behind his back. The bullets fired by the guards never reached his suit, ricocheting off the air around him and rebounding into the foreheads of the shooters. That was how Bucky died as he instantly drew his sidearm and fired.

Wanda tried to stop him with her scarlet constructs but they shattered, never slowing down Doom as he walked straight to Vision and tapped a finger against his forehead. While Vision stiffened, Doom spun on his heels and took three steps back the way he came before the air around him crackled and he teleported away.

That was all it took for him to rewrite Vision, making the remade android turn and phase his hand through Sam's head, which then solidified before he ripped it back out. That was only the start of Vision's vicious attack on them, ending when Wanda used her powers to keep him from phasing long enough for Bruce to smash his head in.

Though Vision hadn't killed any others, the action of killing Vision again broke Wanda. She fell to her knees screaming, her flesh cracking with scarlet fissures. "Wanda! NO!" Peter bellowed reaching out as she exploded, killing herself, the one who twice killed the man she loved.

Her death was only the beginning of Peter's 'doom'.

Doom's powers allowed him to easily learn Peter's identity, which he then revealed to the revenge obsessed Doctor Otto Octavius. The crazed doctor's sense of betrayal swelled upon learning his foe Spider-Man was his former protege. It also meant he knew how to hurt Peter.

Two days after Doom's Tap, Cassie Lang, Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne, Christine Palmer, Betty Ross, Shuri and a dozen others related to the Avengers were kidnapped. When Peter checked their houses, he had no doubt it was Otto who took May Parker, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts and Morgan Stark. And then he remembered that when Otto knew him he was still dating Michelle, and minutes later Peter saw her window broken and imprints from Otto's mechanical arms in the floor along with drag marks where Michelle tried to crawl away.

The Avengers wasted no time traveling to Europe and raiding Doom's castle only to find it empty. Not a single one of Doom's robots could be found.

Frustrated, they returned to their HQ upstate. The moment they stepped out of Strange's portals the Avengers all froze for a second before slipping into battle stances upon seeing an army of Doombots standing outside the facility. It was only once they had a moment to take them in that the Avengers realized the bots were all holding corpses. All the kidnapped people lay dead in their arms and were dumped to the ground like garbage before the doom bots charged forward.

Peter tried. He tried to focus and fight, but every time he swung at one of them or dodged an attack he saw a glimpse of May's corpse with an arm almost reaching for Happy, Michelle's twisted body and bloody fingers, Pepper's face frozen in fear and pain, or Morgan's open hand as if reaching for him. They died because of him. Because he cared for them. Michelle had purposely left him to avoid these things yet she was caught up all the same.

For a moment it seemed like they could win, but as it always seemed to, that hope died when Doom arrived.

Scott grew larger than ever to stomp on Doom, who just tore through his body and ripped it in half as if he weren't a living skyscraper. Bruce threw a punch that would've shattered a mountain, but didn't budge Doom, who huffed and puffed and blew Hulk's flesh off his bones.

Strange helped them get away and call for help from everyone they could. The Guardians, Thor and the Asgardians, the X-Men, Fury and SHIELD, the armies of just about every country on the planet, every single reserve Avenger and every hero they could think of came together.

They gathered at an old SHIELD base, and when Thor wondered why Doom wasn't attacking to stop them T'Challa told them, "This is a game to him. He does not see us as a threat."

"Pete." The familiar voice made Peter raise his head, finding Daisy Johnson smiling at him. She waved her team away, telling them to give her a minute before making her way toward him. Sitting beside him on a bench she asked, "How you holding up?"

She was clearly disappointed when he shrugged instead of making some jokey comment.

With a sigh she said, "I heard about Wanda, May and the Starks. I know how much you loved them."

Staring at the floor, his eyes stung as Peter whispered, "They were all I had."

Frowning, Daisy took his hand in hers. "You still have me."

Peter chuckled, glancing to her as he squeezed her hand. "Thanks, Shakes."

She punched his shoulder with her free hand. "Don't you dare let anyone hear that." A smile broke his sullen expression as he looked to her and she reached up to caress his cheek. He hadn't shaved in a few days so had a layer of stubble across his jaw. She scratched it, smiling as her gaze shifted from her hand to his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Peter."

He started to say something, felt him shift slightly as if intending to lean in and kiss her, but he stopped himself. Instead he reached up and gently removed her hand from his face, sorrow coloring his glassy brown eyes.

"This doesn't change anything," he whispered, his voice trembling as he tried to be as strong as he knew he needed to be. He knew it was the right thing to do, so he did it. "When this is done you'll make the same choice as before. I know where I stand with you. Don't let pity fool you."

"I've never pitied you, Peter, I swear." Placing her hands on either side of his face, she brought her lips to his whispering, "I only ever loved you."

He'd never quite figure out if he truly believed things would be different or if he just needed her at that moment. Either way Peter pushed aside his doubts and returned her kiss. For a moment, for the first time since he watched Wanda's skin tear open with raw power, Peter felt like there was a chance he could find some sliver of happiness when this was done.

Doom sat on a floating throne in the heart of Latveria, chuckling as a thousand portals opened and the most powerful army in the universe began their assault.

And Peter's last hope for happiness died when Doom turned Quake's powers back on her, leaving her shattered corpse toppling to the ground while her team was picked off trying to avenge her.

Peter screamed and ripped a doombot in half before leaping across the field to land beside her. Falling to his knees, he pulled off his half torn mask, tears mixing with the blood streaking his face.

"Daisy," he whispered, his hand hesitating to touch her face. It was bruised and covered in blood that poured from every orifice on her head. "No."

As the battle raged on Peter knew he should get back up and fight with the others, but he didn't. He could, but he didn't. For the first time ever he didn't get back up. He couldn't.

He barely noticed the silence that came over the field after a few minutes until he heard the soft crunch of rocks beneath metallic boots and turned to see Doctor Doom standing over him. Glancing past him, Peter saw thousands of corpses amid doombots, crashed plants, twisted balls of metal that had once been tanks. Their army failed.

Peter looked up to doom and nodded through his tears. "Do it."

He could see Doom's smile touch his eyes, though his lips were hidden by his mask. "I already have," Doom said turning and walking over the corpses of his friends.

He'd contemplated picking through the corpses, but the doombots were watching him as others worked through incinerating them. So instead he put his arms under Daisy, trying to be gentle as he lifted her. He could feel every bone in her body was shattered and shifting, kept stiff only by rigor mortis.

When one of the doombots shifted toward him, Peter glared at it and it seemed to assess things before turning away to incinerate Thor's corpse.

It took two days for him to step out of Latveria with Daisy's corpse, but he wouldn't bury her there. It was only once he crossed the border that he finally set her down and started pulling up clumps of dirt with his bare hands until he had a six foot deep hole. Once she was inside and covered, he laid rocks across it and pulled flowers from a nearby bush, setting them where her chest would be and where she should have at least had a gravestone.

Without a way to get back to the US and no resources, Peter prepared for his last stand as best he could. He stole a red and black leather jacket as well as a black shirt, jeans and boots. He managed to find a costume shop and shattered the window to take the gloves and mask from a Spider-Man costume, then spent a day making a fresh batch of webbing from the supplies he stole from a ship the night before.

Through the years he'd learned a lot about stealth which he often ignored for countless reasons, but he put them to use in his infiltration on Doom's castle. He'd also only killed enough people to count on half a hand, but managed triple that and a dozen more doombots on his way into the castle, making his way to the ceiling of the throne room.

True to his namesake, Peter watched from above as Doom spoke to Doc Ock and his anger got the best of him. Peter launched himself down, but used enough force to crack the ceiling, causing a piece of rubble to fall between Otto and Doom.

Both men looked up, gasping as Peter fell toward them. He fired a web at Doom only for one of Otto's arms to snatch him out of the air and slam him into the ground. He ignored the pain, webbing Otto's face. As Otto and his spare arms worked to free himself and let him breath Peter grabbed the arm holding him and used all of his strength to rip it apart.

Doom chuckled watching Peter throw the torn arm at him, the arm disintegrating before it touched the god-like being sinking into his throne.

Otto tore the web from his face only to see Peter's fist, yelling as he stumbled back and was raised by his arms. Peter webbed him and pulled him back down, rolling past his arm to kick Otto's chest. He crashed through the ceiling and Peter webbed the roof, sending him speeding through the Otto-made hole after him.

"Why?" Peter said as rain fell over Doom's castle and Otto shakily got back to his feet while his mechanical arms helped him. "Why did you kill them?"

"I didn't know," Otto admitted, staring at Peter. "I didn't know what he would do to them."

"LIAR!" Peter dashed forward, leaping over Otto's arms to slam his fist into the older man's chest, bringing him to his knees.

Gasping for air through his shattered ribs and collar, Otto held up a hand, grabbing Peter's jacket. "I-I swear! Peter, I-I thought they were bait. I thought he would bring you here to fight me. I-I didn't know he would… I'm sorry."

Peter brought his fist up and knew he could have punched through Otto's head. He had punched through walls of steel, and Otto wouldn't even be the first person he killed in this castle, but his hand still shook as he saw a glimpse of the man he knew. He saw a glimpse of Otto rather than Doc Ock.

"Help me," Peter offered. "Help me."

Otto stared at Peter's masked face and frowned as he said, "Then die."

A second later Otto's arm slammed into Peter's chest, throwing him through the hole in the roof to the ground below. Otto soon followed, his arms carefully lowering him before he touched the ground and sank toward Peter's body, one of his mechanical arms picking it up and carrying it over to Doom.

"And thus the last of the Avengers has died," Otto said sinking to the ground in front of Doom, presenting the limp remains of Spider-Man.

"You've done well, Doctor. I-" Doom gasped as fingers grabbed his throat and he looked down, watching Peter pull his hand back, ripping the flesh off Doom's throat.

When Doom went to put his hands over the wound and heal it, he found his arms locked in place by Otto's arms. Though it took him only a second to gain the strength to shatter them, that was enough for Peter to put his fist through Doom's chest.

"Traitor," Doom gurgled, his hand raising and firing a blast that ripped through Otto's torso, sending all three of his left arms clattering to the ground as his cleaved, headless corpse tumbled to the ground.

Peter grabbed Doom's wrist with his free hand and pushed it into his own face, obliterating his skull. Once the beam faded, Peter pulled his arm from Doom's chest and stepped back, watching as his body began to glow. A brilliant white light burned through his flesh until only ash remained and even that burned away, the shifting form of light rapidly turning black.

The sight made him tense, fearing the light had somehow been tainted by Doom. However looking into it he saw that it wasn't entirely dark. It was black and spotted with white light like the night sky. This was the true form of the power cosmic that gave Doom his strength.

For a second Peter considered reaching out and trying to take it as Doom had. He knew he would use it better than he had. Peter would use it for good. He could use it to make things right.

But in that same second he realized that was impossible. There was nothing left to make right. Everyone he cared for, everyone he'd ever loved, was dead. Doom had killed half the population and unlike Thanos there was no bringing them back. He knew from their time with Beyonder that even he couldn't bring people back from the dead. This world was broken and so was Peter.

The power shifted in the air before slamming itself into Peter. It pushed through his flesh, seeping into every atom and into his very soul. It was the worst pain he'd ever felt. Every piece of him was being torn apart, burned away, but also regrown.

It overwhelmed him and filled his mind. The remains of Doom's castle were washed away, leaving only the night sky of the power cosmic. He wanted to scream but he had no mouth. All he could do was feel and think, and he felt everything and thought so much. He was sure the power itself was mining him, digging through his mind and his soul as it remade his body.

And then it ended. The pain, existence, all it seemed to end, leaving him at the edge of infinity. He thought he was along until he saw the eyes of Vortex staring at him. After a moment it seemed to bow its head, and suddenly Peter felt his body again. A moment later the cosmos were gone and in its place was a clear blue sky.

When he got to his feet, Peter wondered where he was and almost instantly knew he was in Central Park even though there was nothing that stood out around him. Despite Central Park having been a rotted wasteland last he saw it. He just knew that was where he was.

Thankfully, Peter was still in his stolen clothes, though his mask and gloves were gone. A few people gave him curious glances as they passed, seeing him as nothing but a man laying in the grass.

As he made his way through the park, Peter saw it wasn't just the park that changed. "If I'm in Central Park," he whispered as he made his way to the sidewalk, "this has to be…" He couldn't say it, but the thought resonated in his mind and was confirmed, making him gasp. "I'm in the past."

Peter started to sprint and instantly found the first sign of how the power cosmic had changed him when a single stride launched him halfway down a city block. He managed to stop in the middle of an intersection, gasping as his spider-sense flared and he raised his hand. At the same moment he realized his web shooter was gone along like his mask, a gray thread fired from his wrist and pulled him toward a rooftop, letting the honking truck speed below him.

Landing on the roof, Peter glanced to the street below before looking himself over. He could feel new power inside him, his new flesh still settling. Taking a breath, he jogged toward the edge of the roof and leapt up, soaring halfway down the block before he fired a thread that let him swing down the rest, and as he flipped over the intersection he disappeared from view. Another gift of the cosmic power.

He remained invisible as he landed on a roof and looked to the street below. There he saw a young brown haired boy come stumbling around the corner, laughing as he turned to watch his aunt and uncle follow.

"Ben," Peter whispered, watching his uncle lift his younger self and toss him into the air, spinning before Ben caught him.

Watching his younger self hug Ben at the promise of pizza for dinner, Peter smiled realizing he could save him. He could stop his murder. He could stop everything. A part of him knew he could kill Thanos, kill Galactus, squash the egg that would become Annihulus, keep the universes from colliding, even stop that spider that bit him.

Peter could stop it all. But he wouldn't.

It tore him apart nearly as much as the power cosmic had, but Peter couldn't rob his younger self of a life as Spider-Man. As much as he loved Ben, Peter Parker needed Spider-Man.

Before he was bit Peter was miserable, but after that he'd let the power get to his head until Ben died. So either he would leave his younger self miserable and depressed, maybe ending with him being the only Peter in this universe, or he would go down a harsher path, probably never taking Ben's lessons to heart and using it as the foundation of his identity and a guide for his life. Neither option was appealing to him.

Peter needed Ben Parker to die as much as he needed to be bit by the spider. After that he could try to help this world's Peter live some version of the life he wanted, and for that to happen, Peter couldn't be Spider-Man anymore. He couldn't even be Peter Parker.

Doom had killed everything that made Peter Parker want to live and the power cosmic had destroyed his body. He was now a new man in a very literal sense as every cell in his body was different and even his appearance had changed somewhat so he wouldn't be mistaken for his younger self.

The power made him into Ben Reilly, and Ben Reilly had work to do.

* * *

**AN:**

Peter here is firmly an adult. He's 22 and out of college. Daisy would be about 35 in the future.

The plan is to explain and go into stuff like Peter's relationships with Wanda and Vision and Daisy later, but I think there's enough here to get an idea of what they are.

The clothes Peter steals to infiltrate Doom's castle is basically his Last Stand costume. I had him specifically call out killing three times as many people in one go than he did in all his life to show he's already changed at that point. He's not gonna go full Punisher, but he's also going to be far more open to killing people, especially since some of his plans will have that as his goal.

The power cosmic is obviously different from the comics, but I like the name. It looking like a night sky is also a bit of an allusion to Captain Universe and the Enigma Force. I originally had Peter appearing back in time in a giant web cocoon to allude to the Other storyline, but decided against it. Peter seeing Vortex is also a reference to probably my favorite Black Bolt moment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Peter, or rather Ben, took some time to think about what to do and found answers didn't come quite as quick as the ones he had earlier. When he wondered what his new identity should be in this world it was his idea to take his uncle's name and May's maiden name.

His other identity was more of a challenge. He had loved being Spider-Man, but he had to leave that for Peter. The idea came to him when he decided he would call his organic webbing threads, leaving webs for Peter. From there he thought that threads did fit thematically with how he was messing with fate, but also still linked with spiders. More and more links came to him until he settled on Weaver. It was simple, close enough to his spider powers but also vague enough to just be about how he can weave his way around people or make threads. He also decided to mostly use black threads to avoid the obvious web comparison.

He used his first night on the new world to not only think of all the things he could and should do, but also to test his abilities while gaining his first resources. After years swinging around the city, it wasn't hard to find a crime family's hangout. It was even simpler for him to make his way inside, shrugging off bullets while knocking them out before making his way to the back room where a mound of cash waited.

When the police arrived, they found inky black threads covering the door. One officer touched it and gasped as the thread turned to liquid which rapidly evaporated. Inside they found the thugs all wrapped in similar threads, so made sure to handcuff them before touching the thread. In the back room they found piles of guns and ammo, but all the cash was gone.

It was the same at four other gambling dens and hangouts that night. By morning, Ben Reilly was a multi-millionaire. No matter what that would be the last night he had to sleep outside in a web-thread cot. If he did it again it would be a choice. He hoped.

It was the middle of the afternoon when an old man left his house sipping from his cup of tea on his way to the mailbox. He'd just closed it after taking the mail out and turned to return to the porch when Ben appeared behind him saying, "Steve."

Steve Roger froze, his grip tightening on the cup as he turned, only to have all the tension leave him. "Ben."

Surprised, Ben realized that told him quite a bit. Steve knew him as Ben, not Peter, which meant he was looped in this timeline, not the old one. It also told Ben his plan was going to be a success to some degree.

"Sorry to interrupt," Ben said with a sincerely apologetic smile. "But I really need your help."

"Of course," Steve said motioning for him to follow him. "Come on. We'll talk inside."

Relieved, Ben followed him into his house, smiling when he saw an old woman who was no doubt Peggy Carter rise from her chair. "Steve?"

"Peg, this is-" Steve chuckled, setting his cup down as he turned to Ben. "What are you going by at this time? Ben or Peter?"

"You know?" he asked in surprise.

Steve smirked. "So it looks like I know something you don't for once."

"Ben as in…" Peggy's voice trailed, looking from Steve to Ben, who she quickly moved to and pulled into a hug. "Thank you! Thank you!" Ben returned the hug with a smile. Once she stepped away, Peggy wiped at her eyes. "I'll go put on a fresh kettle."

"Get my envelope out of my bedside table too, hun," Steve said smiling as they watched her head toward the kitchen.

Ben turned from her to Steve. "You know what I can do, right? Do you want me to-"

"No," Steve said somberly. "When it comes it comes. You've already given us more time than we thought we'd have."

"So it was me who sent you back," Ben said with a relieved sigh. "That means this is gonna work."

Steve smiled. "Why don't we sit?"

Ben sat on the floral couch, holding back a laugh at the aesthetic which left no doubt the house belonged to an elderly couple. It wasn't bad, just amusing to see a domesticated Captain America.

When Peggy returned she set out cups for each of them and took a seat beside Steve, who she handed a manila envelope. "So, Mister Reilly, is it true you're from another universe?"

Ben snickered at the casual tone of her absurd question. "Of course you'd know about that. Yes. I am. I arrived yesterday with just my clothes. And even some of those were missing."

"I believe this is what you came here for," Steve said sliding the envelope across the table.

Opening the envelope he found a birth certificate for Benjamin Anthony Reilly along with a social security card, passport, driver's license, gun license and a few other things to help expand his new identity. There were also pictures clearly sent back with Steve to be used for each ID that required it. "How-" was all Ben said before he shook his head and looked to Steve. "I asked you do this for me, didn't I?"

"Happy belated birthday," Steve said with a laugh. All his records his birthday as the day before, when he arrived on this world.

Tucking the papers back in to the large envelope, Ben turned to them. "Thank you. Both of you. I can't thank you enough for this."

"Oh it was nothing," Peggy said waving her hand. "Cover IDs were always easy, especially back then."

"Ben," Steve said setting his own cup down. "Do you have anyplace to stay?"

Shrugging, Ben said, "I'll find someplace that will take cash under the table until I can get on my feet."

"Nonsense," Peggy said sitting up, looking to Steve and seeing he had intended what she was about to offer. "We have a spare room. You can stay with us."

"Oh no, I couldn't impose."

"Never," she said shaking her head. "You've given us so much, letting you use the spare room is absolutely nothing."

Ben saw they were ready to keep arguing it, so he gave a relenting nod. "Only until I have a grasp on things."

"However long you need," said Peggy. "Steve can lend you some clothes until you have your own."

"You have anything from this century, Brooklyn?" asked Ben with a smirk.

Steve smiled somberly as he said, "You forget… Peter was from Queens. Ben Reilly's always been a Brooklyn boy."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ben had a lot to think about now that his identity was official. The main thrust of his plan wasn't going to change, so he wasted no time officially starting Reilly Enterprises, filing a dozen copyrights and twice as many patents.

It was everything else that he had to be sure about before he took action. He knew he could ask Steve and convince him to talk. Even if the super soldier was against it for timeline reasons Ben knew that among his new cosmically gifted abilities was a kind of pheromone secretion he could use to influence others. However he wouldn't ask. Knowing he was the one who sent Steve back in time told him he at least made it long enough to get the Time Stone, and at that point it wouldn't matter if it didn't all go right, he could just go back and set things right himself. For now he would enjoy the controlled chaos of life as he weaved his web and toyed with the threads of fate.

The question was how would he go about it and whereto start.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Nick Fury was sat in his office when his secretary told him, "Sir, Peggy Carter is here to see you."

"Send her in," Fury said getting to his feet to greet her. She hadn't made an appointment, but there was no chance in hell he wasn't seeing her right away.

"Good morning, Nicholas," she said as she shook his hand.

"Morning, Ma'am," he said motioning for her to take a seat. "Would you like a drink or anything?"

Sinking into the chair and setting down her bag, Peggy shook her head. "I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

"What can I do for you?"

"Well I was hoping you could help a dear friend of mine," said Peggy.

"Help how?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing mission worthy. A young gentlemen who is a friend of my husband, he's developed a rather special kind of material for vests and protective clothing. He's hoping to get contracts with agencies but has been having trouble getting meetings since his company is brand new. I was hoping you could contact him."

Fury frowned. "I can't agree to a contract without knowing what we're getting."

"Of course," she said leaning down to open her bag and retrieve a jacket. While the outside looked to be a soft canvas material, the inside was smooth as silk. "You can test this."

"This is his vest?" Fury said dubiously looking over the jacket.

"Not quite a vest."

"It's thin," he noted.

"Which is why he can make entire suits out of it. The only lighter areas would be in the joints to accommodate flexibility, but even that would be well protected compared to normal cloth." Peggy's smile showed pride as she said, "The only way a knife is getting through is if it's from an enhanced person, and the only bullets piercing it will be large enough you might as well have gone bare chested."

Fury's brow rose, returning his gaze to the shirt. "What's it called?"

"Sixian, I believe," said Peggy.

"Your contact's Chinese?" asked Fury.

"No."

Peggy thought back to when Ben first showed her and Steve the ballistic jacket, telling them the name. "Silk Thread," Peggy noted. "Why Mandarin?"

She and Steve saw Ben's face darken slightly, sorrow coloring his hazel eyes as he said, "I knew someone… her mother spoke it. I helped her try to learn some but she never got a handle on it. Too busy with work."

"He's American," Peggy told Fury. "From Brooklyn. Trust me. You'll be impressed, Nicholas. I promise you. If it were still me in that seat then I'd be disappointed when he won't agree to join us or make it entirely exclusive."

"Why do you say that?" Fury asked. "Why wouldn't he join us?"

"Because then his vests won't be available to everyone," she said proudly. "I'll tell you now he'll only agree to deals which let him supply these to other agencies within a few years at the absolute latest, though you'd do well agreeing to vests or something for now. OH!" She dug through her purse and handed him a paper, "And these are the only agents I'd trust with this for now."

Fury took the paper and looked at the names. At the top of the list was his own name followed by, "Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Maria Hill and Sharon Carter. An interesting list. Your niece is fresh and the rest, they're the best."

"I know how this works, Nicholas," Peggy said meeting his examining gaze. "You're going to send one to deal with him, and no doubt my suggesting him has made you curious enough to have another agent look into him and shadow him if not get a position in his company. You know how I am, twice as paranoid as you at times. Those are the only ones I trust to handle this and not try to manipulate him."

Fury took out a lighter and incinerated the list, letting it fall into his burn bin. "You think he could be turned?"

Peggy smirked. "No. I think if you send someone else and they try, my dear friend will send them back to you broken or in a body bag with proof of their betrayal stuck it. But if that happens I fear he won't value your judgment as much, and I'd like this to a bridge that stands firm rather than burnt."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I don't do field work anymore, Sir," Melinda May said after Director Fury asked her to meet with a potential asset.

"This isn't field work, May," Fury assured, "it's negotiations. It's all admin work."

"Then send someone else," May said shaking her head. "I'm fine at my desk."

"This is a request from Peggy Carter." That made May's eyes widen. "You're one of seven agents she cleared to work this. I'm obviously busy. Romanoff and Barton are on mission. Hill and Coulson are both looking into some things for me, and since you don't do field work that only leaves Carter to shadow him assuming this works out. So I need you to be the one who handles negotiations."

May was dazed at the names he spouted so quickly. Peggy Carter was a legend and the only other people involved with this were all legends in the making or prodigies. It was an honor to be included among them, but she couldn't quite understand why apart from the event which had people calling her The Cavalry.

Once she nodded, Fury handed her a folder. "This is everything I have on the guy you'll be meeting, Ben Reilly. His business is new, but I had his vest tested and it's better than anything I've ever seen. I included a key for the test footage so you know what we're talking about, and our absolute max."

"It says here we're his only bidder so far," May noted. "I can probably manage less than half this."

"No," Fury said quickly. "At the very least this has to be fair. I don't want to scare him off and we can spare some cash to make sure this guys thinks of us as a friend. Carter suggested I make this a bridge to ally us rather than one to burn, so that's what I want."

Seeing her doubt, Fury said with a smile, "Do you know why the outline had an entire point about exclusivity? It's because he won't go for it. He wants to sell it to other agencies to keep people safe, so told Peggy no matter what he won't do complete exclusives. This is a good guy. Let's at least give him a fair deal."

Though May certainly didn't quite believe it, she was certainly interested to meet Mr. Reilly. Not only was he recommended by Peggy Carter but Fury thought well of him, that made him rare twice over at least.

She was surprised when she arrived at the address and found not a small building, but a large plot of land housing a number of buildings. For a brand new startup she almost expected him to be working out of an apartment, not a massive facility with it's own warehouses and factories. The main office was one of the smaller buildings now owned by Reilly Entperises.

Entering the lobby, she was surprised to find Ben Reilly himself sat at the receptionist desk, turning in his chair and smiling. "Good morning, Agent May."

'Well there goes my cover,' she said mentally throwing away everything she had on Jessie Li. "Mr. Reilly."

"Don't worry, Peggy didn't burn you," he assured, getting to his feet. "I just happen to be developing a rather extensive search engine. I looked up your cover and ran the picture, found it popped up in a few other places and put things together."

"I'll have to look into that," she said making a mental note to wipe as much as she could and that Reilly might be more than she or Fury assumed.

"I already handled most of it," he told her waving her hand, "but feel free to double check." Ben pulled the receptionist chair around the desk, setting it in front before leaping back to sit on the desk and motioning to the chair, "Please, sit. We can talk here, no need to go my office."

May eyed him a moment before taking the offered seat thinking this was some kind of ploy to try and unsettle her. He must have been one of those people who saw negotiations as a kind of battle. She nearly smiled thinking how poorly his luck was to be pitted against her.

"So, I take it you're here about the sixian."

May nodded. "I have to say I was surprised when I heard the name. I'd assumed you would be either Asian or have spent some time there."

"Only a day or two," he said remembering his passport had been marked for trips all over to add depth to his persona. "I chose mandarin to honor someone."

For a moment she thought he was going to continue that sentence, but stopped and seemed to think that was enough. "I see. Well, the material is incredible from what I saw."

"You didn't try it?" Ben frowned when she shook her head, then leaned back and pulled a jacket from behind the desk, tossing it to her. "Try it on."

May gave him dubious look which he answered by rolling his eyes and covering them with his hands. Chuckling, she got to her feet and removed her blazer to slip on the jacket. It was a bit big for her.

Somehow he knew the moment she had it on and lowered his hands to watch her zip it and close the clasps over that. "It's comfortable, right?"

"How can it be that strong and this soft?" She asked running a hand over the cloth. Even the outer layer wasn't half as harsh as it looked.

"Company secret."

May removed the jacket and handed it back, putting on her blazer. "And how many people exactly do you have working for you?"

"Just little ol' me," Ben said setting the jacket down beside him. "Why?"

"This is an awfully big facility for a one man operation."

"I have big aspirations," he said with a shrug. "Plus the machinery I've designed to make all of this is quite large and I need a lot of space."

"And a lot of money."

"I've been lucky recently," he said with a smirk. "I'm pretty good as convincing people or just about anything when I need to. People know a wise investment when they see it, but especially if I'm the one presenting it."

May nodded, remembering the records showed him getting a number of large investing payments from accounts across the world. Likely from people he met on his numerous trips, though they had been impossible to track.

"Well I won't lie and say SHIELD doesn't want to buy from you," she said crossing her arms. "Before we begin discussing prices, I need to know if we're purchasing exclusive rights to your vest or not."

Ben frowned. "No. Once you buy them, I'd like you or someone else at SHIELD to suggest other agencies meet with me. I'd give them out for free, but honestly I need the money. I want to do more, and the only reason I started with these jackets is because I know I can make large deals with government agencies."

Though Fury had told her this, May was still surprised by his firm stance. "I was told we can't expect exclusivity to your vests, but what about a full suit? A jacket and slacks. A combat uniform or jumpsuit."

Ben eyed her for a moment. "It would increase the price, obviously, but I could give SHIELD exclusive rights to buy them in large quantities."

Narrowing her eyes, May noted, "That's very specific."

Ben chuckled. "I'm retaining the right to make people a full suit if I so desire, and if they won't take it or feel the need to pay me I don't want to have that break our contract. SHIELD would be the only agency or company I would sell them to in any significant quality."

"Do you expect to be making these suits for other people?"

"My guards." He added with a smirk, "Once I hire some."

May shook her head at the obvious answer. "Of course."

"And I imagine once I start to gather attention I'll want to make suits for people close to me or those I think I can help protect. Like I said, I don't want anything to break this contract. Not even a technicality."

While May assumed he meant VIPs like the president, who the secret service would no doubt want a suit for once they heard about it, Ben imagined his suits more colorful. While Stark's suit was definitely good, he would make sure that his younger self had sixian cloth as part of the suit Stark made him in a few years.

With the basics settled May insisted on seeing how the material was made, so Ben took her to the sixian factory. It was there she found not only massive textile machinery, but slender humanoid robots running them.

"What is this?" May asked watching the robots work.

"Like I said, I'm a one man operation so I automated development." Ben saw her calculating, but before she could ask he told her, "They're not for sale."

"This is incredible," May said looking from him to the robots. "If people knew-"

"I'd prefer they didn't know." Ben tucked his hands in his pockets and sighed. "I saw what happened to Tony Stark. If I start making these for people, how long until they start asking for me to make them soldiers? How long until I'm the man the made the machines which tore through a country? How long before some terrorists snatch me out of a military convoy? I prefer to keep my head on my shoulders, Agent May. I'm happy leaving them as my workforce."

May nodded. "Guess I can't argue that."

"If it makes you feel better, I'm considering trying my hand as prosthesis," he said as they left the factory to return to the office building. "I figure if I can make them then I can make a decent leg or a hand."

"I'm sure you could," she said surprised by her sincerity. She had a sense he could do just about anything if he put his mind to it. She just hoped he was as decent a man as Fury thought, or he could be a problem in the years to come.

* * *

**AN:**

Originally had a couple different setups for him getting IDs through SHIELD, confronting Fury as Weaver and stuff, but I thought this more interesting.

Ben having hazel eyes after being brown last chapter is on purpose. PC changed his appearance slightly so he wouldn't look like Peter, remember. I'm sure pheromone powers are a common thing, I even have it as a thing with one of the Peters in Away From Home, but this version is supposed to be broken and I think it works as his version of mind control since it's more animalistic than psychic powers. He still has others which are even more broken.

Obviously there are time jumps and skipped weeks here and there to make things go quickly. If anyone questions the money he has, he's been keeping up robbing families at least until around the end of this chapter. Once he has a deal with SHIELD and a legit income he won't really need to go around robbing crime families anymore. Anything else you might question, just tell yourself is a difference of the universe of the power cosmic is behind it somehow.

I chose Reilly Enterprises for his company name because the initials are RE, as in re-wind, re-take, re-do, etc. Seemed fitting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

After closing the deal with SHIELD, Ben had a few more choices to make. First among them was what to do about Sharon Carter.

"She's good," Peggy told him when he brought the topic up with her and Steve during an outing to celebrate his deal with SHIELD. "I'd say bring her close. Let her play a part in the business as a cover."

"But she might see how I work," he said carefully.

Frowning, Peggy nodded. "Yes, I see. That is a problem."

"So the question is do you bring her close and tell her or keep your distance," Steve said before chewing a mouthful of steak.

"And how much do you tell her," Peggy nodded in agreement, reaching for her wine.

"Not everything," Ben said quickly. "For now, you two are the only ones I want knowing where I'm from. I'm not sure if I'll ever tell anyone else." Seeing Steve snicker and shake his head, Ben sighed. "Apparently I do?"

Steve nodded. "Obviously me, but others as well."

Though Ben's mind was flooded with questions, he knew as soon as they came he didn't really want answers, so found none and didn't voice them. Either way, he decided maybe he wouldn't need to be quite as secretive as he's planned, but even then he would still be selective with who he told.

Shaking his head, he looked to Peggy saying, "I'll tell her what I can do. Maybe my plans as Weaver, but only if I know she can keep it quiet and not tell anyone."

"The question of your workforce is going to come, Ben," Steve noted.

"Which is why I'm going to automate it," Ben said with a smirk. "My first AI is almost done, and I've built a few Worms."

Peggy's brow knit asking, "Worms?"

"Worker Machines," Ben clarified. "Bit diminishing, but the letters were too good to pass up, especially with silkworms being a thing."

Peggy chuckled as Steve said, "Bit early for robots and AI, isn't it?"

"Which is why they're not for sale and most won't be significantly armed or armored. I'll leave the legion to Tony for now."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sharon Carter took a breath as she arrived outside the Reilly Enterprises facility. She'd been ready to take on a new cover identity so was shocked when Fury gave her this mission and told her she was going in as herself, or at least a version of herself.

"Reilly was recommended to us by your aunt," Fury told her while she looked through the folder he gave her. "I had her suggest you for a position in his company and he's agreed to bring you on as an assistant. He made May as an agent so I want to know if that was a fluke, but given what he's making there's a chance other agencies will try to strong arm him and I want you to make sure he remains on the right side of the law.

"He's still getting off the ground, so chances are that's going to mean a lot more than getting him coffee or answering calls, but I'm sure you're up for it."

"So more like a receptionist, or…" Her voice trailed, hoping that was all.

Fury shook his head. "This isn't a pink mission."

Sharon sighed in relief. She'd dreaded the idea of those.

Entering the office building, she expected to find Reilly waiting for her as May told her he did for her, but found the lobby empty. Confused, she went up to the desk, which was now behind a thick transparent window integrated into the wall separating the lobby from the back section of the building. Apparently he'd renovated since May's visit.

Tapping the bell she called out, "Hello?"

"Good morning, Miss Carter." The female voice filled the lobby, seeming to come from speakers Sharon couldn't find.

"Uh, hi. I'm here to meet Mr. Reilly? I'm his new assistant. My aunt sent me."

"Of course," the voice said before a click came from the door beside the receptionist desk and it slid open. Once she stepped through the voice told her, "The elevator is to your right, and Mr. Reilly's office is on the top floor."

Sharon stepped onto the elevator confused, wondering if she was going to be his second assistant. As far as she knew she was supposed to be his first employee.

Stepping off the elevator she found a large open area with the floor separated into a handful of large offices. She made her way to the largest one at the back of the building and looked into the open door to see Ben Reilly sat at a desk. He looked up as soon as she appeared and smiled.

"Morning, Sharon."

"Where's your other assistant?" She asked motioning to the empty desk out front.

"The desk is yours. Vivian doesn't need one."

"Vivian?"

"Yes, Miss Carter?" The voice once again filled the room.

After scanning the room and hall, Sharon turned to Ben asking, "What the hell is this?"

Ben smiled, rising from his chair. "Vivian is an AI I designed to help me."

Sharon blinked. "You made an artificial intelligence?"

"Yes. I'm assuming you have a lot of questions, but I was hoping we could speak before I show you around. Is that okay, Miss Carter? Can I call you Sharon?"

Her brow furrowed as she nodded. "Yes. To both, yes."

"You might want to sit," he said motioning to a chair. Once she did, Ben sat on the edge of his desk. "Now, I don't want you to worry, so I'm going to do something that's going to make you a bit calmer and keep you from getting scared or upset while I explain things, alright?"

Sharon frowned, her gaze hardening. "What are you talking about?"

She watched him cross his arms and suddenly found her expression softening as the suspicion in her faded. "There," he said, "that's better, isn't it?"

Sharon was nodding before she even realized it. "Wait, what did you do to me?" She asked yet felt none of the fear or confusion she thought she should.

"I've released a pheromone which has made you more open to hearing what I have to say. It's one of the many gifts I was given."

"Gifts?" Sharon gasped. "You're an enhanced."

"Yes, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone and left me off SHIELD's Index, if that's alright, Agent Carter." Seeing her eyes widen, he held up a hand. "Your aunt didn't burn you or anything. Again, one of my gifts is knowledge. I know you're an agent of SHIELD. The list of agents allowed to interact with me was made by me, not your aunt."

Sharon shook her head. "What are you?"

"A New Yorker," he said with a smirk. "I was born on Earth, in the US, in New York. I can't explain exactly how I got my abilities apart from saying they were a gift from a cosmic force for something I did." That was mostly true. Even his original spider powers had been changed and enhanced by the power cosmic.

"Now the reason I'm telling you this and not simply hiding it is because I know you're an agent of SHIELD. I know you're gonna poke around in places where I don't want you to and eventually you're gonna find out the robotic workers I've built aren't the ones doing the work here."

Sharon frowned. "What is?"

"Me," he said rolling up his sleeve and holding out his arm. Sharon gasped as hundreds of threads shot out of his arm, twisting and turning to form an exact copy of himself standing beside Ben. "Or versions of me."

"H-How is that…"

"Another gift," he said with a nod as the clone's body came undone, the countless threads collapsing and evaporating before they hit the ground. "I could try to hide them from you, but it will be a lot of work and I'd rather have you as an ally. Someone I can trust. Obviously I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell people at SHIELD about this."

"Why? This is incredible," Sharon said sitting up in her seat. "This is a miracle."

"It's a target," he said frowning. "You know as well as I do SHIELD is not without traitors or its own spies. If they found out about the things I can do then I'd be more of a target than I already will be, and for now I need the CEO of Reilly Enterprises to be separate from the man with superhuman abilities."

Sharon shook her head. "But you can help people."

"And I will," he assured, "just not as Ben Reilly."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you heard anything about a vigilante hitting crime family hideouts across the city?"

Her eyes narrowed as Sharon said, "That's you."

"That's me," he admitted. "Which is why I'd like you to make sure Ben Reilly and Weaver stay separate."

"Weaver?"

"What I call me alter ego. I'll make him known in a few months." Tony had only just returned from the cave in Afghanistan. It would be a few months before he finished his suit and made his debut as Iron Man. By then Ben would have completed his own suit and hopefully Reilly Enterprises would be on the rise. "Until then I'd like the vigilante to remain nameless as far as SHIELD is concerned."

Sharon shook her head. "You expect me to just not tell anyone what you can do?"

"Your aunt knows all this and more, Sharon," Ben said, shocking her. "If she's agreed to keep it quiet, surely you can as well."

"She really knows?"

"She's technically known about me longer than I have," he said, smirking at the odd truth of his statement. Time travel was weird. "The only other person who knows more is her husband."

Shifting in her seat, Sharon sighed. "You said you doped me with some kind of pheromone. How do I know you're not just making me agree to this?"

"Because you're questioning it. I could make you agree like you think. I can also make you forget if I had to, but obviously I don't want to."

A minute passed as Sharon thought things over before nodding. "Fine. I'll keep it quiet. Not a word to anyone at SHIELD."

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "And just so you know, I cut off the pheromones after I made my copy."

Sharon scoffed and nodded. "I appreciate your honesty."

"I'm sorry to be so blunt with all of this, but it was this or try to hide it and I really do want this to work. Fury no doubt suspects I know you're an agent, so you can tell him I do, that way you can take leave to go on missions or whatever else he needs you for. You can tell him about my worker bots, but I'd downplay Vivian if you can. You'll find she's quite advanced, but for now I want most people to think she's just a kind of voiced automation."

Surprised he was not only being so open but supplied an opening to go on other missions, Sharon nodded. "Okay."

"Why don't I show you around? I can show you some of the other stuff I'm working on beside sixian cloth."

Sharon followed him out of the building, letting him give her a tour of the various factories and warehouses.

Each building appeared to be guarded by two or more bulkier, armored Worm Drones while the slimmer models were busy taking orders from copies of Ben inside each building. She saw not only where they made the sixian thread and tailored them into clothes, but a massive chemical lab, a forge where he was making some kind of metal, and the building where his clone was making more Worms to grow their workforce. The Creation Station, as Ben called it, was also part of the building which housed dozens of pods and stations for the Worms to rest and recharge.

The last building he showed her was the most heavily guarded and housed floors filled with servers. Looking around the cooled building she asked, "Vivian?"

"Partially. It's also running some things I'm gonna release along with some hardware. Might look into integrating it with Stark Phones eventually."

"You really do have big aspirations," Sharon said snickering.

"Which is why your first job for me will be clearing launching our own satellites. We can even buy someone else's for now if it gets it done sooner."

Sharon turned to him gaping. "You want to launch a satellite?"

"Not a satellite. Eight, maybe a dozen. Maybe more."

"Why?"

Smiling, Ben told her, "Because I want the world to see everything that going to be happening soon."

Sharon shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Like I said one of my gifts is knowledge, and I happen to know the world is going to change. I want the whole world to be able to keep up with it to some degree, so," he said reaching into his pocket and pulled out what looked to be a smart phone which he handed to Sharon, "I made this."

"What is it?"

"I call it webware," he said as she turned it on and saw the screen labeled Reilly Enterprises Webware. "Right now it has unlimited access to high speed satellite internet. Even during a storm it gets a clear signal. The only thing that's made it drop is being over twenty feet underground or moving around two hundred miles an hour, but I think I can improve that."

Sharon brought up websites to test it and was surprised by the speed, which was at least equal to the fiber optic SHIELD had installed in her apartment. "And you want to launch satellites so this can work all around the world?"

"I want to make sure everyone can access the internet no matter where they are. With that someone out in the middle of nowhere will have the same quality of internet as every city in the world. Maybe better than most right now. If someone has one of them they'll never be lost or out of reach."

Her nods slowed as she looked from the webware to Ben. "How is this working if you don't have a satellite up yet?" Seeing his sheepish smile she stepped forward asking, "Are you using someone else's satellite?"

"No, no," he said shaking his hands. "I just… I may have secretly launched a satellite to test it."

Sharon stared at him. "What? Someone would notice another satellite in orbit, not to mention launching it!"

He arched his brow saying, "After all you've seen, do you really doubt I could covertly launch a satellite?"

After a moment she nodded. "Yes. It's one thing to make clones of yourself and whatever else you can do, but-" She gasped when he disappeared. Just as she started to look around he reappeared in the same spot. "What was that?"

"I know how to make things invisible," he said with a shrug. "The satellite is specifically designed to go unnoticed. The others would be registered properly. I just know it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. And I want this done quickly, so instead of just entering the test phase hopefully we can quickly move onto production."

Sharon groaned, looking at the webware before handing it back to him. "What am I supposed to tell Fury?"

"You can tell him about the satellite. I'd tell him not to bother trying to find it since I designed it specifically to not be found, but I know he'll try. Tell him I assured you it was private and mostly helps Vivian."

Narrowing her eyes, Sharon said, "That's where most of her is, isn't it?"

Ben smirked as he turned and led her out of the building. "Peggy said you were smart."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You're sure about this?" Matt Murdock asked stepping out of a cab.

Foggy Nelson closed the door and tapped the roof, telling the cabbie it was clear so he could drive off. "They sounded normal, and everything I checked looked legit. They're new but they also bought up a big plot in Brooklyn so they clearly have something we don't."

"And what is that?" Matt asked with a smirk, already knowing the answer.

"Money," Foggy said making his way toward the cafe on the corner. "Which they will hopefully pay us to look over some boring files and tell them a few loop holes to save them twice as much as they're paying us."

"I thought we agreed to help-"

"I know," Foggy said spinning around to walk backwards and face Matt. "But this is one job and it's enough to pay our rent for the next three months. Maybe even put a down payment on an office of our own so we can stop taking meetings at diners and bars."

"I thought you said this was a cafe."

"Or cafes," Foggy amended.

"Fine, we can-" Matt grabbed Foggy, making it look like he stumbled when in reality he stopped Foggy from backing into a baby carriage. "Sorry."

"It's fine, you know that," Foggy said patting Matt's shoulder. "I can slow down."

"I'd appreciate it," said Matt, who followed Foggy into the cafe.

Once they were inside Foggy saw a blonde woman and brown haired man wave to him and get to their feet. "Mr. Nelson?" She said, extending a hand when he nodded. "I'm Sharon Carter. This is Ben Reilly."

"A pleasure," Foggy said shaking their hands before letting Mat have his turn.

"The pleasure is all mine," Ben said before motioning to the seats across from them. "Please, have a seat."

Foggy set Matt's hand on his chair before taking his own. He waited until all were seated before saying, "Well, I have to say I was surprised to receive your call, Miss Carter."

"Mr. Reilly heard good things about you," she said with a dubious glance to Ben.

"From who?" Matt asked, shifting his focus between the two.

"I told some people I know I needed lawyers I could trust, preferably young ones who had potential but were maybe overlooked or down on their luck. They pointed me toward you two. You both had positioned at a rather large firm but gave them up to work out of your apartments and take on poorer clients. That tells me you have some morals, but it also tells me you were good enough to be scouted by a firm straight out of school."

"Business isn't our specialty," Matt said before Foggy could speak. "I doubt we'd be of much help to your company."

"But my company might be of help to you."

Both Matt and Foggy were surprised by Ben's words, Foggy glancing to Matt in confusion while the blind attorney shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Reilly, I'm not sure what you mean."

Sharon watched Ben smile as he leaned forward. "Besides the factories and warehouses I've purchased, I also own an office building which we work out of. However there's still only the two of us there. I'd like to offer you one of the floors to act as your firm's office."

"What?" Both attorneys said, sitting up.

Ben noticed Matt's brow sink, clearly trying to get a read on him. "I know how hard it can be as a startup. It can be difficult to get on steady ground so you can build. I'd like to give you that ground. All I'd ask if that you count Reilly Enterprises and myself among your clients. For now we can say the price of your retainer would be the price of your rent. You'd even be given access to the building's other facilities, so the gym, showers, kitchen, all that stuff."

Foggy looked to Matt before asking, "Is this for real?"

"It is."

"Why?" asked Matt.

"Because I know the kind of men you are," Ben said, knowing Matt could tell he was honest. "Obviously I'll still pay the agreed amount for you to look over the files I've brought today no matter what you decide. But I assure you the office will be more than suitable."

Sharon maintained her stoic expression throughout, Ben having assured her this was the right move before they left. She took a pair of folders from her bag and set them on the table in front of the lawyers. "Yours is in braille, Mr. Murdock."

The men took a few minutes to read through the files, Matt being the first to set the folder down. "You're going to launch satellites to give people internet?"

"That's the plan," Ben said with a nod. "Well, part of it at least. If you move in and I become a client I'd have other files for you to look over. I've designed a new kind of ballistic vest and I've got a few offers from various agencies. I'd appreciate it if you could look those over as well when we meet with them."

Foggy set his folder down and glanced at Matt. "Could we, uh, have a minute?"

"Of course," Ben said as both men got to their feet and walked across the cafe.

Sharon turned to him asking, "Do you think they'll go for it?"

"I hope so," Ben said with a sigh, glancing at Matt who he knew was listening, "I know they can be good. They just need some help."

"This is crazy," Foggy said with a sigh. "He wants to rent us an office for free?"

"For making him a client," Matt corrected. "You said they're on the level?"

"As far as I can tell. They're brand new though, like barely months old. Their site didn't say much about what they did. I didn't even know about the vest thing. Must be good though if he's getting offers already despite being so new."

Matt shook his head. "I don't know. It seems too good to be true."

"Maybe," Foggy nodded, "or maybe it's just karma finally paying us back for choosing to be broke, decent people."

Snickering, Matt glanced toward the table before nodding. "We can try it."

"Yes! Papa Foggy is gonna eat good tonight." Clapping Matt's shoulder, he led him back to the table and his chair.

Before Foggy could take his own seat, Ben said, "Actually, Mr. Nelson, could Mr. Murdock and I speak privately for a moment? Miss Carter has some pictures of the office to show you."

Foggy blinked ad Matt frowned, tensing as he stared at the smiling Ben while Sharon got to her feet and took out her phone. "Oh, uh, sure."

Once Sharon guided Foggy to a table across the cafe, Matt asked, "How did you know we accepted?"

"The same way you heard me tell Sharon you need help," said Ben.

Matt felt his heart stop. "What do you mean?"

Ben crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward. "Matt. I'm honestly here to help you, and I know you can tell I'm being honest by my heartbeat or how I smell or whatever it is that tells you that."

That was true, but he still had to ask, "Who are you really?"

"A friend. I really do want to help you, which is why I have a gift." Peter picked up a bag off the ground and set it on the table, opening it. Matt cautiously stuck his hand inside and furrowed his brow at the soft material. "I made you a suit to replace the stuff you bought online. It's made from my sixian cloth, so it can stop just about everything from a pistol, shotgun or rifle and will stop a knife unless it from someone whose strength is about equal with your senses."

"What are the horns for?" he said feeling the mask.

"Intimidation," Ben offered. "The billy clubs can also combine, and have a special sixian thread that can link them and an internal motor so you can use it like a grappling hook if you have to."

Matt felt the clubs and frowned, closing the bag to hide its contents. "What is this about really?"

"You've heard about those crime families that have been getting arrested lately? The ones who talk about a guy in a white mask?"

"That's you," said Matt.

"It is. I can do things, and one of my gifts is knowing things. I know about you, what you can do and what kind of man you are. It's why I want to help you and Foggy. Only thing is, uh, if you could, maybe either slowly work on opening up Foggy to accepting your night job and people with abilities like us, or keep him from looking into the other buildings I own.

"I don't mind him seeing the robots I use for staff, but one of my gifts allows me to make copies of myself which I have supervising each building. I'd rather not try to convince him I have twins if he gets nosy, and I don't want to risk him finding out what I can do and getting scared. Whenever you think he's ready I'll tell him, but I'd suggest you do the same. You can say you kept it from him because now it would also mean revealing my secret and you needed to convince me it was okay to tell him."

Matt shook his head, shocked and overwhelmed. "And if we agree to work out of your building, then what? Do we work for you? You expect to use me? Send me on missions or something?"

Ben frowned. "No. I expect you to stick to Hell's Kitchen when you're in uniform, but only because that's where you'd be anyway. And if you move in you only work for me in the sense that you'd be my lawyers. You'd basically be my legal department until you're ready to leave, and hopefully you'd recommend some people to replace you.

"Like I said I'll have contracts for you to check, stuff like that. And when the day comes that people find out about me you can help me avoid any vindictive people who try to sue me for making them emotionally distressed or damaging property while stopping some idiot from blowing up a borough."

From across the cafe Sharon watched Matt sit in thought for a moment before extending a hand which Ben quickly shook. With their deal met, she brought Foggy back to the table where he was surprised to find Matt clearly more open to working with Reilly.

They left with the attorneys, shaking hands again before returning to Reilly's company SUV. Sharon got behind the wheel, having cited her role as his assistant as well as her extensive courses as a SHIELD agent for her being his driver. He'd mostly relented because he never liked driving half as much as swinging.

"So what did you think?" he asked as they were driving away.

"I couldn't spot that he's enhanced," she said shaking her head. "He just seemed like a normal blind guy."

"He's had years of practice."

"They seem decent enough otherwise," she said shrugging as they came to a stop at a red light. "You're sure about letting them in the building? They're gonna wonder about Vivian and the other workers."

"I told Matt about the Worms and I'll explain Viv is just an automated system. I asked Matt to try and open Foggy up to revealing the truth about himself, and when he's ready I'll let him know."

Sharon sighed. "Are you sure about that?"

"Foggy's a good guy. He won't blab. Plus there's the whole confidentiality thing I can lean on now that we're clients."

"You say that as if you know him," Sharon noted, glancing at him before turning a corner.

"In another life maybe," Ben said solemnly. "I haven't told them about you and I won't. That's on you if you ever want to."

"You knowing is enough," she said shaking her head.

Ben sank back in his chair as they drove, looking out the window. Eventually Sharon noticed how quiet he was, glancing at him until he finally sighed and sat up. "You think you can get tickets for a flight tonight? Maybe tomorrow?"

Sharon snickered. "I already got us first class tickets for our trip to Washington next week. We can't push up our meetings."

"I don't mean for Washington," he said somberly, "I have to go to California."

* * *

**AN:**

Originally didn't have anything with Sharon. When I had him confronting Fury his contact was Melinda so he dealt with her more, but given her story at that point it didn't feel right so I switched it for Sharon and found she was pretty fun to write. There's not a lot to her from canon so far, but I'm trying to use the few things there are to expand her.

I'm a few chapters ahead as far as writing, and having finished the first sex scene I think I'm gonna end up having to heavily edit the version on FFnet. The scene is pretty explicit and I don't want to lose it since it was a fun kind of character examination I'll probably get into more during that chapter's notes. Either way, given FFnet's rating system I'm gonna posted the edited down version there and the full version will be on AO3. The edited out bits might be pretty blatant and transitions might not be as clean and sensible as I'd like, but if people want to read to definitive version it'll be up on AO3.


End file.
